Appearing in about one out of every four set booster packs, cards from the list provide players with a unique opportunity to pull cards from outside of their specific sets. While many cards on The List aren’t worth much, there’s typically a handful of cards that have a decent price tag. Unfortunately, when the Lord of the Rings set came out, it was clear that a lot of the valuable slots had been removed. Cards like Urza’s Saga and Force of Vigor were removed, which certainly hurt the overall value of the cards on The List.
This time around, it appears that there will be some hefty cards added to the list for Commander Masters. In contrast, only a few semi-expensive cards are being removed. While none of the additions quite rival Sword of Feast and Famine, there are some expensive classics that are getting their time in the spotlight. To get a sense of the value being added, let’s first take a look at some of the cards leaving the list to make room for new cards.
Leaving The List
While some of the cards leaving The List are still heavy hitters, a lot of them have dropped in price some thanks to appearing on The List in the first place.
First up, we have Helm of the Host. Helm is an excellent Commander card. It combos with a LOT of different MTG cards, such as Timestream Navigator by creating a Hasty token copy of the Equipped Creature at the beginning of combat on each of your turns. Taking infinite turns or attacking in infinite combat steps is very realistic with the card, hence why it’s a decent card for The List. Still, the card has dropped to roughly $7, so losing the card from The List isn’t too backbreaking.
In a similar vein, Contamination is another card that is leaving The List after dropping in value some. This card used to be worth a big chunk of money, but it took a big dip after being reprinted in The List. Even since it’s appearance on the list in Lord of the Rings, the card has dropped from roughly $9 when the set was introduced to $6 now as it is being removed from The List.
Another card being removed from The List is Elvish Champion. Elvish Champion is a classic Elf lord. The card pumps your squad and even gives your Elves a nice Forestwalk bonus. This is yet another example of a card tanking in price as it gets reprinted, and this card fell all the way to $5. While losing these cards from The List certainly removes some valuable slots, as we will see, there are some valuable cards replacing them moving forward.
One last card getting removed from The List is Orim’s Chant. Outside of The List, the card was only printed as a Judge Promo and in Planeshift. The card has a similar effect as Silence, but it can also prevent you from getting attacked if you paid its Kicker cost. Orim’s Chant currently sits at $9, making it one of the pricier cards getting removed.
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New Additions
Some of the new cards added to The List not only hold decent price tags, but they also are getting some much-needed reprints that could lower the price.
The first card in this situation is Alliance of Arms. Alliance of Arms is one of a few MTG cards that have the “Join Forces” ability. This ability allows each player to pay any amount of mana, then every player gets the card’s bonus for each mana spent in total. For example, if every player spends 15 mana collectively on Alliance of Arms, each player is rewarded with 15 one-power Soldiers. The key is to break the equilibrium, maybe with a card like Coat of Arms. Alliance of Arms was only ever printed in original Commander, and as such, could see its $6 price dwindle a fair bit.
Similarly, Oppression currently sits at $15 but was only ever printed in Seventh Edition and Urza’s Saga. Oppression does have a potentially powerful effect on the game. Forcing each player to discard a card whenever they play spells can be absolutely brutal, especially for Commander players that can’t draw lots of cards. Still, Oppression is likely to fall in price being featured on The List.
One more card that could fall some in price is Crystalline Crawler. This card was printed in Commander 2016 as well as Commander Anthology Volume Two, but still sits at $10. The card is certainly a good Commander card for multi-color decks, so it shouldn’t drop too much, but it’s a nice reprint to have nonetheless. For anyone interested in potentially opening more Commander staples from The List associated with Commander Masters, there are yet some more expensive heavy hitters to mention.
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More Commander Staples and Beyond
One Commander staple that is getting introduced to The List is Burgeoning. Burgeoning has seen multiple reprints, but still sits at $15. Much like Exploration, this card lets you put additional Lands into play each turn cycle. The difference is that, in a multiplayer game, it’s easy to put into play three or possibly more Lands from your hand as long as you play this card early in the game. This card can give you a massive mana advantage and tempo boost as the game goes on.
Another decent Commander card added to The List is Furnace of Rath. This card has been reprinted many times, but still manages to command a $6 price tag. Even if the effect Furnace of Rath gives is symmetrical, if your deck is relatively aggressive, it’s easy to utilize this effect to your advantage.
The most expensive card added to The List isn’t necessarily known primarily for Commander but can certainly be useful against opposing combo decks. This card is none other than Flusterstorm. Flusterstorm is an excellent piece of interaction. It helps beat Storm payoffs as well as win counter wars, thanks to the card having Storm itself. Flusterstorm has seen a couple printings, including as a buy-a-box promo for Modern Horizons. Currently sitting at $20, this is an excellent addition to The List and helps make up for the cards that were removed. Between Burgeoning, Oppression, and Flusterstorm, there’s definitely a handful of valuable new additions to open in Commander Masters set boosters.
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